The End
by Ari Moriarty
Summary: "Everything will be alright in the end. If it's not alright, then it's not the end." AdachixMinako.
1. Forever

**Author's Note: **My story was removed because of the author's notes. Apparently doesn't like author's notes. I have been writing here for two years and no one has ever remarked on this before…but I digress.

I am reposting. Without the notes.

_He is not a lover who does not love forever._

_-_Euripides

**First Story: Forever**

**March 5, 2017**

Margaret opened her eyes and was, unexpectedly, in the midst of the vast Sea of Souls, scattered all-round by soul-diamonds in a glittering sea of wine-dark forever.

A few feet in front of her stood two beautiful, familiar people smiling back at her out of her own unusual golden eyes.

"Margaret," murmured Theodore, nodding gently at her and awarding her with one of his ever-so-perfect little bows. "It has been a long time."  
"I'm so happy to see you," added Elizabeth brightly. "We've missed you so much."

_I've missed you as well, little brother, little sister, _thought Margaret. _I've missed you for so long. It's been…different. Lonely. It hasn't been right. _She opened her mouth to say those things, but for some reason no words came out. Something felt strange. Even the chillingly beautiful smiles of her brother and sister felt strange.

Elizabeth must have noticed her discomfiture. "It's this place," she sighed.

Theodore nodded. "There is no air in this place."

Margaret thought about saying that of course that was ridiculous, because neither she nor Theodore nor Elizabeth actually needed to breathe the air. The air was a thing that human beings needed, while she and her siblings were far more than humans would ever be. They were manifestations of power and purpose, and breathing was beneath them.

For some reason she didn't say that, either. She felt without having to be told that "air" wasn't what Theodore had meant at all. There was something else missing here, besides "air." There was something intrinsically empty about the Sea of Souls. It was empty, it was sad, and it was…well, in a perverse way it was soulless. It was devoid of the sort of life she'd become so used to, living as she now did in and amongst the minds of the citizens of Inaba. There, at least, there was always life, even if it was a slow, careful, and quiet life.

"Why have you brought me here?" she asked. "I do not understand. You do know where to find me when and if the need arises. Even if you've chosen to absent yourselves from the Velvet Room, you are always welcome to-!"

Unexpectedly, Elizabeth giggled. "Margaret," she said, "it's time."

Theodore nodded.

"Time?" Margaret shook her head. "No…that can't be. She could feel her heart beginning to flutter as Elizabeth and Theodore smiled peacefully at each other. "I've told you, you can't…this isn't allowed. Your place is with me, and with our Master. You're not responsible for-!"

"It is hardly a question of responsibility," interjected Theodore quietly. "It is, dare I say it, a question of…requirement. No, that isn't the right word. Desire, perhaps. It has become a necessity of the heart."

"I do not understand," repeated Margaret desperately.

Elizabeth shook her head. "No, you don't," she said. "And that's sort of sad, isn't it? But maybe someday, you will understand. I'd like that very much. I'd like you to be able to know what that feels like."

"What 'that' feels like?" Margaret bit her lip. "What do you mean? What does what feel like?"

Again, Theodore and Elizabeth exchanged a knowing look.

"Love," said Elizabeth. "I want you to know what love feels like. It's a wonderful feeling."

Now it was Margaret's turn to emphatically shake her head "We're not able to love," she insisted. "We have been created; have been instructed for a purpose and for the greater good. We are tools for the purpose of guiding those certain, special guests into the flow of the future. There is no room in our duty for love. We're not intended for it. We never have been. You must understand that."

For a moment, Theodore stopped smiling. He glanced down at his own hands, then back up at Elizabeth, looking slightly less sure of himself than he had the moment before.

Without batting an eyelash, Elizabeth reached out, squeezed his hand, and then said to Margaret, "It doesn't matter."

"Love and duty," mumbled Theodore confusedly, "cannot coexist. I…I should be ashamed."

Again, Elizabeth giggled, almost rebelliously. "But we're not ashamed," she insisted. "We were created, designed for the 'greater good.' Our responsibility was to help prepare the way for the future of mankind, but that doesn't matter anymore. It will never matter again. Don't you see?"

"Without her, mankind's future is of little import to us," said Theodore.

"And that," agreed Elizabeth brightly, "is what love is. It's when no one else in the world, not even the whole world means anything anymore because the well-being of one single person has…" She paused. "The well-being of one person has eclipsed the future of mankind. It's...a powerful feeling. Overwhelmingly beautiful, and sad."

Margaret wasn't sure what to say. She couldn't seem to make herself move. Her legs felt rooted to the spot, and she knew that the feeling of helplessness she felt had nothing to do with the Sea of Souls, but rather had everything to do with something deep inside her own soul which she hadn't been entirely sure she'd even possessed until that very moment.

"And that's why you must go?" she asked, listened to the dull sound of her own voice echoing into the nothing all around.

Elizabeth and Theodore nodded. Then Elizabeth leaned forward and gave Margaret an alarming little kiss on the cheek, and it wasn't anything like the playful little kiss that Margaret had once shared with her favorite and most exciting Velvet Room guest. That kiss had been a little departure, a tiny indulgence of curiosity. This kiss, for some reason, made Margaret want to cry, even though she couldn't remember having ever cried before.

"And I love you, too," said Elizabeth. "We both do. I hope someday you know what that means. Maybe it will make you happy when you remember that we loved you, and don't worry…because we will love you forever. Love is, after all, forever."

Theodore reached out and took Margaret's hand for a moment, and then released it. He and Elizabeth both smiled at her, and kept smiling while they slowly faded away, vanishing gently until they, too, were maybe two points of startling brilliance in the midst of the great Sea.

Margaret finally began to move.

She walked for some unspecified amount of endless time, until she finally found what she was looking for. It was there, floating through the Sea of Souls, perfect and beautiful like something carved painstakingly out of marble from the ancient times.

It was a statue, or rather two statues of a man and a woman, holding hands and staring back at Margaret out of strangely light-colored eyes. They were both still smiling.

Margaret reached out and touched them each gently, and as more foreign tears spilled prettily down her cheeks, she wondered, not for the first time, at the power and force of this thing called love.

On Earth, in the human world, on a school rooftop somewhere on Port Island, Minako Arisato opened her eyes for the first time in many years, and saw the stars.

They twinkled gently down at her as she lay back on the concrete and cried.

For her, at least, it was far from the first time.

**Fin. **


	2. Homecoming: Chapter One

"_At the end of the day, it isn't where I came from. Maybe home is somewhere I'm going and never have been before"_

_-_Warsan Shire

**Second Story: Homecoming**

**April 20, 2017**

**Chapter One**

When Yosuke and Yu's train pulled into Yasoinaba station, they disembarked to find Yukiko and Chie already there waiting for them.

"Man, you guys are so late," complained Chie, although she was having a hard time hiding a grin as she gave Yosuke a big, enthusiastic hug. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago! We were starting to get really worried!"

Yukiko, however, didn't look worried at all. She was too busy gazing into Yu's eyes and blushing pink while he whispered something suitably sweet to her under his breath.

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Jeez, partner, can't that wait until we're back at the house? You two are gross. Seriously, nobody wants to see that."

"You're just jealous," remarked Yukiko, giggling while Yu glared at Yosuke.

"Ugh, way to hit where it hurts." Yosuke sighed.

Chie shook her head. "Come on, let's go," she insisted. "You guys can go all lovey-dovey on us later. Right now there are more important things to think about! Dojima-san's ordering us a big sushi lunch back at his place!"

"Oooh, right." Yukiko nodded. "I forgot to tell you. We should get going; everyone's already waiting!"

She and Yu started off hand in hand, while Yosuke and Chie hurried to fall in step.

"Sushi, huh?" Yosuke raised an eyebrow at Chie. "I think this is the first time I've seen you get really excited about any kind of meal that didn't involve steak."

Chie grimaced. "Let's just say that after a whole year of police academy sawdust and gruel, I'm ready for anything that just tastes like real food."

"Hmmm…" Yukiko frowned. "Maybe we should take our leftovers to the new neighbors. You know, to say 'welcome,' and 'we're glad you're here.' Everyone likes sushi, don't they?"

"Who says we're even gonna have leftovers?" asked Chie. "Besides, are leftovers really something you bring to a new neighbor? Isn't that kind of rude?"

Yukiko had to think about that for a moment. While she pondered, Yosuke and Yu shared a quick look.

"New neighbors?" asked Yosuke. "You mean one of those old bats next to Dojima-san's place moved out?"

"Yosuke!" Chie shot him an annoyed little look. "Well, I mean, yeah. Apparently she's going to live with her grandson in the city or something. That's what my parents heard. But some new people moved into her old place pretty quick. It was just a few days ago, so we haven't really met them yet."

"I hope they're friendly," murmured Yukiko. "Mother says that it's three young women. One of them interviewed yesterday for a position as a waitress at the Inn, but I was out when she visited. I'm excited. We don't often get new people coming to live in Inaba."

Yosuke eyes widened. "Three new girls? Seriously? What kind of amazing luck is that? Sounds like this is a good time to be moving back to town after all, right partner?"

Yu cleared his throat noncommittally. Yukiko squeezed his hand and again, he and Yosuke exchanged a look.

"Right," sighed Yosuke. "Yeah, I guess if you're spoken for it really does take some of the fun out of it."

They walked and talked for a while, enjoying the nice spring weather and the pleasure of each other's company until they reached the familiar front stoop of the Dojima residence. Twelve-year-old Nanako Dojima was sitting on the step, kicking her feet impatiently and playing with one of the laces on her obviously shiny new blue and white sneakers.

"Oh, hey, Nanako-chan!" Yosuke grinned and waved.

Nanako jumped up, eyes dancing, and rushed headlong into her cousin's outstretched arms. "Big bro! Yosuke!" She turned and gave Yosuke a slightly more demure if delighted hug. "Welcome home!"

Yu gave her an appraising look. "You cut your hair," he said. "I like it short. It's cute."

Nanako spent a moment very clearly deciding whether or not her mature, twelve-year-old self was willing to accept that she was "cute," then gave in, grinned, and flushed a little. "Thank you! Um…it grew out a little. When I first got it cut, Mai-chan and Ryo-kun said I looked like a boy."

Yukiko clicked her tongue in a very motherly way, and put an arm around Nanako's shoulders. "You don't look anything like a boy, Nanako-chan. You're growing into a very beautiful woman."

"Yeah!" agreed Chie. "You sure are. Anyone who doesn't appreciate that can get lost! Who needs their opinions anyway?"

Together, all five of them strode into the house, where they found everyone already in the living room. Rise and Kanji were watching TV on the sofa, while Dojima and Naoto chatted over coffee at the kitchen table. As soon as the door opened, all four of them stopped what they were doing, got up, and clustered over to greet the newcomers.

"Senpais!" Kanji beamed, and clapped both of his old friends on the shoulders, making both of them wince a bit. "Welcome back! It's been boring as hell around here without you."

Naoto nodded and smiled in her quietly pleased sort of way. "We've missed you greatly," she murmured. "It's good to have you home, Yu-senpai, Yosuke-senpai."

Rise didn't bother being demure. She pushed herself past the others, threw her arms around Yu's neck and gave him a big kiss on the cheek, eliciting a tight-lipped glare from Yukiko. Then she turned and gave the same treatment to Yosuke, which seemed to mollify Yukiko a bit. "I am SO GLAD you're home!" she squealed. "I feel like it has been just forever! A year is way too long. I'm so glad it's finally over."

"What? Like you're one to talk," retorted Yosuke. "You're always going off on tours or to do shows and stuff. All we did was go to college for a few years. At least Yu and I've got predictable schedules. No one ever knows where you're gonna be."

Rise didn't seem to take any notice of Yosuke's comment. "First Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai came back last week," she said, "and now the boys are back in town! The gang's all here again, and it's for good this time! I mean, it's not just for the summer, like usual. This time you're staying here for good, right?"

Yosuke, Yukiko, Yu and Chie looked at each other, smiled and nodded.

"Yeah," said Yu. "I think that's the plan."

"There's nowhere else I'd really like to go," murmured Yukiko. "After all, this is my home. It's all of our homes. We're going to be very happy here, aren't we?"

"Of course we are!" Chie nodded emphatically. "Together again, forever at last! This is where the good stuff starts! I didn't even do that badly on my second semester exams, and that's what I call a real happy ending."

While the others chattered excitedly amongst themselves, Yu strode over to greet his uncle, who clapped him companionable on the shoulder and cleared his throat, glowing with slightly embarrassed pride.

"You've grown," he mumbled. "You're really an adult, now. It shows."

"You say that every time I come," said Yu.

Dojima shrugged. "It's always true. Anyway, uh…welcome back. We're all glad you're home safe. I know your Mom and Dad are a little, uh, disappointed that you decided to move back here after graduation, but I'm glad you think of this place like your home. Makes me feel good to know that you're gonna be a part of our lives again."

"Uncle Dojima," insisted Yu, "I've spent every summer here since I started school."

"Yeah, but…I know your folks were hoping that you were finally gonna come home to them." Dojima sighed. "Look, I'm not arguing with you. Feels like it'd be disloyal to my sister not to say something about it, though. Honestly, I was a little worried that maybe you would go back. Not sure what Nanako and I would do if we couldn't look forward to having you around."

"Dad," called Nanako. "The sushi's going to dry up. Let's eat!"

No one had any objection, and they all settled in around the table and began exclaiming over the fantastic sushi spread.

"So, Naoto," began Yosuke, swallowing a bit of halibut. "How's the detective business? Solve any good murders lately?"

"Dude, what kind of a question is that?" Kanji stared at him. "That's not something you just blurt out over lunch. Not cool."

Naoto smiled and shook her head. "Thankfully," she murmured, "I haven't had to deal with a anything of that kind in recent months. The highest profile case that I have recently solved involved the local theft of a series of very expensive original paintings from the home of the Ebihara family. As it turns out, the incident came at the conclusion of a long string of similarly-executed art thefts that the authorities had been struggling to solve for several months." As though there was nothing remarkable about that at all, Naoto selected a bite of salmon sushi and delicately ate it, while Yosuke and the others looked suitably impressed.

"Wow," said Yosuke. "Something that big happened in Inaba? I mean, I knew the Ebihara family was rich and all, but I didn't think they were rolling in that kind of cash. Uh, well, good for you for sorting that out." He shook his head. "I bet that's the last time anything 'high profile' happens around here for a while, though." He reached over and snatched a newspaper off the floor by the TV stand. "I mean, look at this. All the news we've got around here is stuff like 'Brave cat saves postman from attack by dog,' or something like that. Uh…" His eyes narrowed as he read the front page, and he trailed off suddenly, frowning hard at the headlines.

"And you, senpai?" Naoto turned her attention to Yu." Did you enjoy your final year of college? I have heard that coursework during the fourth and final year can be extremely mentally taxing…although I assume that you at least had little trouble with the difficulty level. Your academics achievements have always been impressive."

Yu looked a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah, senior year wasn't easy," he admitted. "I…I didn't do too badly."

"Don't listen to him," began Yukiko. "He's just being modest. He was valedictorian of his entire graduating class…but I'm sure you knew that already. Yu even gave an inspiring speech on graduation day! It was wonderful! Chie and I took the train over to hear it."

Dojima nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that." He gave Yu an apologetic little smile. "Sorry I couldn't be there to see you graduate. I asked for the day off months in advance, but in the end one of the other guys got sick again, and it's…well, it's pretty much the same story it's always been."

Yu shook his head. "It's alright," he insisted. "I don't mind. Honestly."

"Doesn't mean I'm any less proud of you," insisted Dojima. Nanako nodded emphatically.

"H-hey," muttered Yosuke. "Wait, guys…have you seen this?" He was still staring wide-eyed at the newspaper he'd been reading. "What the hell is this all about?"

Chie and Yukiko exchanged a quick look. Naoto reached out and plucked the newspaper out of Yosuke's shaking hands.

"Ah," she murmured, scanning the headlines. "I see. So, it is that day already…in all of the excitement, I had almost forgotten."

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "Now, look,' he began. Yu gently shook his head, and Dojima stopped abruptly.

Chie took over where Dojima had left off. "Yosuke, don't be like that," she said. "It's not like you didn't know this was coming! We've known about this for a long time. Don't get all excited!"

"Let's just enjoy our time together," agreed Yukiko, giving Yu a quick, nervous look. "This is supposed to be a celebration. Nothing should be allowed to spoil that."

"But…" Yosuke didn't seem to be able to finish the sentence. He opened his mouth, closed it, looked helplessly back and forth between Yu and Dojima, and then slumped in his chair, glaring down at what remained of his selected sushi morsels.


	3. Homecoming: Chapter Two

**Chapter Two:**

That night, Fuuka took a step back and a deep breath, trying not to think too hard about all the boxes she hadn't yet managed to unpack. She and her two housemates had spent almost the whole day getting as much cleaning, unpacking, assembling and hanging done as they possibly could, and although there was still a long way to go, the house was at least starting to look a little bit more like home.

"Okay, Aigis, I think that's enough for today," she announced, as Aigis broke down the remains of a cardboard box and stowed them under the sink. "Let's stop for and now and take a break. You must be tired."

Aigis shook her head. "I am fine. Manual labor is not onerous to me. I was built to withstand difficult climates and strenuous combat conditions. Moving boxes is not tiring at all."

Fuuka gave Aigis an exhausted little smile. "Oh, is that so? I'm glad to hear you're not too tired, but I'm all used up. I'm going to sit down for a little while, I think." Pausing, she glanced around, then added, "Oh, did you see where Minako went? I've been so busy that I haven't been paying much attention. I haven't seen her in an hour or so."

"Minako-san has stepped out to get some air," Aigis reported. "I believe that she found the unpacking process somewhat overwhelming."

"That's not surprising." Fuuka nodded. "After all, she…well, she hasn't used her limbs in more than five years." She tried to smile, but the words sounded so strange leaving her lips. "I wonder if I'll ever get used to saying things like that. It's been such a very strange few weeks. Everything seems to be happening so quickly…"

"Agreed," murmured Aigis.

"Do you think," asked Fuuka quietly, "that she's ever going to be alright? It must be so hard, coming back after so long and finding that everything she knew and loved has changed so much. I can't really imagine what it feels like to be Minako, but…she looks so scared, and…well, lonely. I don't remember ever seeing her look like that before. It's…it's awful. She's always been so good at smiling."

Aigis didn't say anything. After a few long moments, Fuuka shook her head, sighed, and forced herself to brighten up.

"What am I saying? Of course she'll be alright." Fuuka took a deep breath. "After all, a fresh start in a new place is supposed to be very good for any person who is suffering from shock. Isn't that right, Aigis?"

"That is correct," murmured Aigis. "This is a statement made frequently by doctors and well-established psychological authorities. It must, therefore, contain a certain level of factual accuracy."

"Yes." Fuuka nodded. "And we have to stay positive and optimistic. That's what she needs from her friends right now. That's why we're here!"

Already, Fuuka found that she was feeling just a little bit better, but Aigis still looked unsettled. She kept glancing over her shoulder out the window, and then finally planted both hands on her hips and took a step towards the door.

"Minako-san has been out for quite some time," she said. "Perhaps it would be best if I went and retrieved her. It is dark out. This is a new and unfamiliar location. It may not be advisable for her to be out alone so long after dark."

"Oh, I'm sure it's fine, Aigis," insisted Fuuka. "This is the countryside! Nothing too terrible happens here. It's not nearly as dangerous as life in the city. I'm sure she'll be just fine."

By way of response, Aigis retrieved a newspaper from the newly-assembled kitchen counter. "Have you read this?" she asked, passing the paper over to Fuuka.

Fuuka ran her eyes over the front page. Plastered in the middle of the page was a large black-and-white photograph of a slightly dorky-looking man in an ill-fitting suit and red tie, grinning beneath the headline "**INFAMOUS INABA MURDER SUSPECT RELEASED TODAY!"**

"Wh-what is this?" Fuuka stared. The article read as follows:

_Five years ago today, 27-year-old Tohru Adachi of the local Inaba police department was arrested on suspicion of having committed the celebrated string of serial murders that began with the killing of beloved announcer Mayumi Yamano. Although Mr. Adachi pled guilty to two counts of murder, his signed confession was incomprehensible, repeatedly referencing a magical creature apparently known as 'persona,' as well as an impossible foray through his television set, where he claims to have discovered another world full of terrifying demons who manipulated his mind. Unable to gather sufficient evidence to successfully prove that Mr. Adachi had, in fact, committed the murders, the dissatisfied police and criminal court were forced to charge Mr. Adachi with multiple accounts of Accessory to Kidnapping, for which he was sentenced to six years in high-security prison (with time off for good behavior.)_

_Having completed his sentence early due to what the warden refers to as an "exemplary record of prison conduct," Mr. Adachi was released today, at 5:00 AM, under certain irrevocable conditions._

_For the duration of ten years, Mr. Adachi will be forbidden from leaving the town of Inaba, where he will meet regularly with his parole officer, Detective Ryotaro Dojima, who volunteered for the position after learning of Mr. Adachi's early release. Detective Dojima, who once served on the force with Mr. Adachi, claims that he has 'no real concerns' about the future of Mr. Adachi's conduct, but includes that he will "remain constantly vigilant" to ensure that a man who once pled guilty to murder never has another opportunity to terrorize his sleepy hometown. _

Fuuka was speechless. "I…I…but, how could they-?"

"It seems that perhaps this country town may not be as safe as we had at first assumed," murmured Aigis.

"But…" Fuuka shook her head and rallied as best she could. "It says here that they couldn't find any proof that he killed those people! Maybe he's innocent!"

Aigis was incapable of raising an eyebrow. Her mechanical facial structure simply didn't allow for it. Somehow, she did a perfectly good job of conveying her skepticism with just a pointed look.

"But…people who are innocent don't usually say that they're guilty, do they?" Fuuka sighed. "And either, way, he's a kidnapper. This isn't good."

"It would be best," agreed Aigis, "if we also remained 'constantly vigilant,' for the duration of our stay in Inaba."

"Well…in that case," began Fuuka, "maybe you should go looking for Minako after all. Oh, no, I'll call Juno. We'll find Minako quickly, and then you can go and get her, if you don't-!"

Fuuka's plans were interrupted by an enthusiastic knock on the door.

Aigis took a look through the window again. "There are some people outside," she remarked. "They look extremely excited and appear to be arguing with one-another rather heatedly. One of them is carrying what appears to be a paper bag." There was a little whirring sound while Aigis adjusted her vision to scan the contents of the mysterious paper bag. "The bag contains dry sushi," she added. "These people do not, I believe, pose a threat."

Again, someone knocked heavily on the door.

"Um…" Fuuka bit her lip. "Well, I guess we should go and see what they want, then."

When Fuuka opened the door, three young men and a woman were standing outside waiting for them.

"We're so sorry to bother you," murmured an attractive girl with delicate features and long black hair. "My name is Yukiko Amagi, and my mother runs the Amagi Inn a few miles from here. We saw that you were new in town, and we wanted to come and welcome you to Inaba!" She gave them a little bow and a friendly smile. Fuuka liked her almost immediately.

"Uh, and I'm Kanji," grunted a dark-haired boy with glasses and a nervous look on his face "Kanji Tatsumi. We've got a textile business in the shopping district. It's, uh, nice to meet you, I guess." He offered a hand, and Fuuka shook it.

"My name is Yu Narukami," added a tall, silver-haired boy with wonderful, knowing eyes. "My uncle Dojima and I live next door with my little cousin Nanako. Please don't hesitate to come and ask for help if you need anything. I know moving can be difficult."

"Oh, so, then, you and your uncle are our new neighbors?" Fuuka beamed at him, and then at the other three. "It's so nice of you to all come by and introduce yourselves. This seems like such a friendly place!" She clasped her hands in front of her chest and gave them all a grateful half-bow. "My name is Fuuka Yamagishi, and this is Aigis."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," murmured Aigis.

"We're from Tatsumi Port Island," Fuuka went on, "and really, we're probably not here for very long. This is…well, it's more like a vacation, really. We've only rented this home for a year, but we're looking forward to getting along with all of you."

"Oh, just a year?" The girl named Yukiko smiled. "Well, we do hope you enjoy it here. We'll try to make your stay as comfortable as possible! This is a very small town, so I'm sure that we'll all get to know each other very quickly!"

The boy named Kanji leaned over and nudged the third man in the ribs. "Hey, what's up, senpai? Aren't you gonna introduce yourself? Where the hell are your manners at?"

The third man, who had so far been silent, had shaggy brown hair and a long, lanky build. He was staring past Fuuka with his eyes unfocused on his mouth half open. Fuuka glanced over her shoulder and realized that the man was staring at Aigis, who was gazing placidly back at him, apparently waiting for him to say something.

"U-um," mumbled Fuuka confusedly. "And, you are…?"

"Huh? The brown-haired man shook himself, glanced quickly at Fuuka, and cleared his throat. "Uh, s-sorry! I'm Yosuke Hanamura. My dad's the manager at Junes, so I'm sure I'll see you around. It's, uh, great to meet you!" He belatedly extended a hand, and Fuuka shook it.

"Well, we don't want to disturb you any further," began Yukiko. "After all, I'm sure you're very busy. We'll we'll all meet again soon!"

She began to back away, and the others made as if to follow suit, when Aigis stepped forward, holding the newspaper out in front of her, and pointed with one finger to the picture of Mr. Adachi.

"Excuse me," she began. "Do you know anything about this man?"

Yosuke, Yukiko, Kanji and Yu all stopped in their tracks, stared at the picture, and then glanced uncomfortably at each other for a long moment. Yosuke cleared his throat.

"Um," he said.

"W-well," interrupted Yukiko. "We…yes, I suppose we…we do know something. We've lived here a very long time, you see, and…"

She trailed off uncertainly, and for a second, no one said anything.

"What exactly would you like to know?" asked Yu calmly. "I used to know him very well."


	4. Homecoming: Chapter Three

**Chapter Three: **

There wasn't much to do at night in Inaba. Back when he'd been a rookie cop newly transferred (or rather demoted) to the area, Adachi had hated that about this stupid backwater town. The place was boring at hell at night. There was never anything going on. Whenever the police got called in late at night, it ended up being to do something like help an old lady who'd fallen down the stairs in the dark, or to answer a noise complaint from a couple who'd gotten sick of some kid playing his music too loud, because that was pretty much the closest any kid around here came to acting like a real, respectable teenage rebel.

Now, though, Adachi didn't mind the quiet so much. There was nobody out on the street, which meant nobody freaked out and started running in the other direction as soon as they caught sight of his face. He didn't have to pretend not to feel uncomfortable when old women started whispering and hissing about him behind their hands, or when kids pointed, shrieked, and clutched at their mommys' aprons.

He hadn't expected it to feel quite like this. He figured he shouldn't even care about these worthless country bumpkins. They could point and mutter about him all they wanted; their opinions weren't worth shit.

He hadn't expected that it'd piss him off or make him nervous. The truth was that he was just too damn tired to pretend to be the big, scary guy from their nightmares. Five years in solitary hadn't done much for his pride and self esteem. He could feel all the eyes on him wherever he went, and after about an hour of that kind of crap, all he really wanted was to tuck himself into a corner somewhere with a stiff drink and booze himself into oblivion.

When night finally fell, he found his convenient little drunken hole-in-the-wall. Old Lady Shiroku was still alive and kicking, somehow, and late at night she still turned her store into Inaba's pathetic idea of a nightclub. When he walked in, she looked up at him, blinked for a moment, nodded, smiled, and went back to washing the dishes.

_She's so old that she's starting to go blind, _Adachi thought. _Hasn't a damn idea who I am. Works for me. _

He ordered a drink, sat back and tried to make himself comfortable. The shirt and tie he'd borrowed from Dojima were too big and kept rubbing him in uncomfortable ways, but at least they were clean. He hated smelling like prison garbage. Smelling that musty stench on his clothes just made him think of cockroaches, vomit, and silence. Dojima's shirt was over-worn and thin in a lot of places, but it didn't smell like cockroach. Nowadays, he had to be thankful for the little things.

While Adachi sat and brooded over his drink, the door opened and a teenage girl walked in. She didn't look like she could have been much older than seventeen, but she had a nice little figure that caught and kept Adachi's eye while she climbed into a seat at the bar.

Old Lady Shiroku raised an eyebrow. "Are you old enough to be in a place like this, young lady? I don't remember ever seeing you around before. Are your parents around?"

Surprisingly, the girl laughed, and it was a bright, carefree, unrestricted sort of laugh that rang in Adachi's ears and made him wince. "I'm older than I look," she insisted, not sounding offended at all by the old woman's condescending tone. "It's okay. I get that sort of thing a lot. I guess it can't be helped. Don't worry, I won't do anything bad. May I please have a lemonade?"

Old Lady Shiroku shrugged, muttered something under her breath, and went back to the bar to sort out the lemonade. For a moment, Adachi and the girl sat silently side by side and watched her.

"Hello," said the girl after a few seconds had ticked by.

Adachi gave her a wary look. "Uh…wait, who, me?"

The girl nodded. "There isn't anyone else here, is there? Of course I'm talking to you." She smiled, and then added, "but if you'd rather be left alone, that's all right. I'm just being friendly."

"Uh…" Adachi cleared his throat. "You're not from around here, huh? Are you new in town, or something?"

"Yeah," replied the girl. "My friends and I are staying for a little while. We wanted to see what life was like in the country. We needed…a break, I guess." Again she smiled, but this time it was an almost nervous, tired little laugh. "I guess everyone around here knows everyone else pretty well. That must be nice, but I probably stand out. Everybody has to know that I'm new and don't belong, right?"

"You…you could say that. I mean, yeah, you, uh, you do sorta stand out," muttered Adachi, taking a furtive look at the very nice set of young girl's legs underneath her skirt. "But that's not why I asked. Uh…you don't have any idea who I am, do you?"

He expected her to give him a pretty, innocent little look and to tell him that no, of course she didn't know him. Maybe she'd ask if he was someone famous, and bat her lovely eyelashes in his direction, hoping to make an impression. That was the kind of thing girls usually did in bars, and even if this one did look really young, he'd had to deal with a lot of highschoolers in the past, and girls were definitely learning how to flirt and get what they wanted from men pretty young.

"Oh, I know who you are," said the girl unexpectedly, giving him that same bright, confident smile. "You're Tohru Adachi. You killed those two women. I saw it."

"What the…?" Adachi stared. For a moment, time stood creepily still.

"…I mean, I saw it in the newspaper," added the girl, still smiling as though nothing strange had happened at all. She looked so sincere and sweet that Adachi wondered suddenly why he'd let himself get so freaked out. "You were in the newspaper this morning, remember?"

"Y-yeah." Adachi cleared his throat. "Right. And that, uh…that doesn't freak you out? Shouldn't' you be, I don't know, running away or something?"

Again, the girl laughed, but this time it wasn't quite a happy, carefree laugh. "I'm not going to run away or scream or anything. I'm not afraid of you." She paused, and then turned to look Adachi full in the face. She had beautiful eyes, but there was something disturbing and terribly sad lurking in the back of those eyes that Adachi couldn't quite explain. It sent a little chill down his spine, and he found that he was having a hard time looking away from her.

"Lots of things" said the girl, "are scarier than you are. The world can be a very scary place, sometimes."

"Uh," muttered Adachi, at a loss. "Well, yeah, that's…that's true." He suddenly found that he was fighting off visions of horrible, looming shadows, cackling goddesses and screaming women, twisting and turning in the throes of demise as their other selves destroyed them bit by bit and blow by blow. He shuddered, feeling a little nauseous, and the girl must have noticed because she sighed, shook her head, and clasped her hands in front of her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm being weird. I know I am. It's…it's been a long few weeks for me. Can we start over?" She extended a hand. "I'm Minako Arisato, from Port Island. It's nice to meet you, Adachi-san."

"H-hi there," managed Adachi, accepting the hand and clasping it because he really wasn't sure what else to do.

It was the first time he'd touched another human being in five years. The contact was foreign and electric, and when Minako gently pulled her fingers away he found that he wasn't quite ready to let go. To cover his confusion, he grabbed and downed the rest of his drink in one swig. Minako grinned.

Again, the door opened, and an older couple walked into the bar. They both caught sight of Adachi, glared daggers at him, and then began whispering to each other.

"Hey," said Adachi, turning to Minako. "This is crazy, but you want to get out of here?"

"Sure. Sounds good." Minako took some money out of her pocket and laid it on the counter. Hurriedly, Adachi did the same. Then they both headed for the door, leaving Old Lady Shiroku gazing suspiciously after them.

Not really sure where he was going, Adachi led Minako through the shopping district until they ended up in front of the little shrine next to eh playground.

"Are you crazy or something?" he asked, turning on her. "What'd you follow me out here for, anyway?"

Minako shrugged. "I want to talk to you, that's all. You asked me if I wanted to get out of that bar."

"Yeah, but…"Adachi shook his head. "We're all alone out here. You get that, right? I'm a convicted killer."

"You're a convicted kidnaper," corrected Minako, playing with a strand of hair and gazing around at the scenery. "But I see your point. Anyway, you aren't going to hurt me."

"Oh yeah? Are you sure?" On an impulse, Adachi suddenly moved in closer to her, until he was far, far too close. It wasn't that he really wanted to hurt her. He didn't plan to be sent back to jail his first day out on parole. It was just that the unconcerned little smile on her face was starting to get on his nerves. Didn't she know what she was getting herself into? Her confidence was beginning to really piss him off.

"Yes," said Minako calmly. "I told you, I'm older than I look, and I'm no pushover. You couldn't hurt me if you wanted to. There's nothing for me to be afraid of, here."

Again, Adachi felt frustrated. Where the hell did her certainty even come from? "What do you mean, 'here?'" He glanced over his shoulder at the shrine. "You mean you think the gods are gonna protect you in a place like this? Is that it? What kind of a dumbass idea is that-?"

Without warning, Minako laughed her half-carefree, half-dejected little laugh. "Gods? Don't talk to me about gods."

She turned away from him and strode over to the shrine, running her fingers contemplatively along the offertory box. Adachi gave up and sat down on the ground. Eventually she wandered back to join him.

"So?" he asked resignedly. "What the hell did you want to talk to me about anyway?"

"I wanted to talk about being in prison," Minako told him quietly. "About being alone while the world moves on without you. I…guess I've been looking for someone who knows what that feels like. I don't think there's anyone else who could understand."

She lay back on the ground and crossed her legs, settling her skirt down over her thighs and resting her head against her folded arms. "It's a pretty night tonight," she said. "You can see the stars a lot better out in the country than in the city."

"Uh…huh," mumbled Adachi. "That's what everybody says out here. Heaven only knows how many times I've heard that shit."

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Minako assured him.

"Huh? You mean the stars?" asked Adachi.

Minako shook her head." No, not the stars," she said. "You know what I meant." Then she fell silent and spent a few moments just gazing into the sky, enjoying the view.

**Fin. **


	5. Social Fabric

_If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place._

_-_Margaret Mead

**Third Story: Social Fabric**

**April 22, 2017**

Kanji was alone in the back room of Tatsumi Textiles when he heard the bell on the front door ring. When he came around the corner to the desk, he found that new girl with the blue hair gazing thoughtfully at a beautiful new kimono that his mother had just finished mounting on a mannequin in the corner. She ran her fingers along the fabric of the sleeve, murmuring something to herself under her breath, and there was such a gentle, fascinated look on her face that Kanji found himself staring for a lot longer than he'd meant to.

When she finally turned around and saw him, she flushed. "O-oh! I'm sorry! I shouldn't be touching the merchandise, should I? Please forgive me…"

Kanji shook his head." Nah, it's fine. People touch it all the time. That's a display model anyway; we're not gonna try and sell it. Probably got crap all over it by now."

The girl gave the mannequin a dubious and slightly alarmed look, and took a step away from it. "Oh. I…I see."

Belatedly Kanji felt that some sort of greeting was in order. "You're, uh, Yamagishi-san, right? You just moved in next to Senpai. I mean, uh, next to the Dojima place."

"Yes, that's right." She nodded at him. "Fuuka Yamagishi. But, please, just call me Fuuka. I don't mind at all, even if I am a little older."

"You're…older?" Kanji couldn't tell. He'd always had kind of a hard time figuring out how old girls were. It wasn't like all high school-age girls were one size, and all college-age girls were another size, or anything.

Fuuka was still watching Kanji expectantly. "Sure. Yeah. I can do that, Fuuka-san," he mumbled. "And, I'm Kanji Tatsumi, but, uh, Kanji's fine. Tatsumi-san's my Ma, so…anyway, I'm way too young to be a 'Tatsumi-san,' I guess."

"Alright." Fuuka nodded. "Thank you, Kanji-san. I'll remember that."

Fuuka smiled, Kanji felt awkward, and the conversation completely stalled. He could feel himself getting redder and redder in the face as the seconds ticked by and he still couldn't figure out what he was supposed to say here.

"Can I…help you with something?" He managed eventually. "Ma's out right now, so I'm in charge here, sorta. You looking for something in particular?"

"No," murmured Fuuka. "Well, actually, I'm not sure." She giggled a nervous, excited little giggle, and gestured at the mannequin with the beautiful kimono. "I think this is probably the wrong thing for me to start with. It looks so complicated, but it's so lovely. I couldn't help myself. I'm looking for something more…basic, maybe?"

"Basic?" Kanji came out from behind the counter. "Oh, I get it. You wanna learn to sew, right?"

Fuuka sighed. "I do. I really do. I think it'd be wonderful if I could mend my own clothes or make little things for friends, and…well, other things like that. Actually, I was reading a magazine the other day, and I saw a photograph of a wonderful quilt with beautiful little patches from lots of different pieces of clothing. It was called a 'friendship quilt,' and I know exactly who I want to make it for and give it to, it's just…I've never stitched a straight line in my life." She shrugged apologetically. "I wouldn't even know where to start." She glanced back longingly at the kimono, then added, "And I'm not very good at making things. I never seem to get it quite right, even after I've read all the instructions. I need an instruction manual just to learn how to read directions in the first place!" Again, she giggled, but to Kanji it sounded a little off-key.

"Huh," he muttered, thinking to himself. "So, you suck at learning stuff, but you want to learn to sew, right? Well, uh…I gotta be honest with you. Quilting's not even sewing. It's like…sewing plus six other tough thing you gotta learn. Maybe you should start with something small, like, maybe a handkerchief or something. Yeah. That's not a bad idea."

Fuuka looked dubious. "A handkerchief? Well…those make good gifts, too. But, I really do want to learn how to quilt. I thought maybe I could find a book about it here. I know this isn't a bookstore, but everyone says that you and Mrs. Tatsumi are the most talented artisans anywhere when it comes to working with cloth, so I'd just hoped…" She trailed off, watching the look on Kanji's face.

"Sorry," he told her. "We don't got nothing like that here, I'm pretty sure. You can try the bookstore across the shopping district if you want, but I'm pretty sure they don't sell anything like that either."

Fuuka's face fell. "I see. Well…I'm very sorry to bother you."

Kanji shook his head and held up a hand to forestall her. "Hey, did I say you were bothering me? I mean…if you want, I could teach you. It'd go slow, and stuff, 'cause I got a lot of work to do around the store, but…I mean, if you're really that desperate to learn, then that's…I mean…we could do that, I guess."

Fuuka brightened up immediately. "Really? You'd do that? Are you sure it won't be too much trouble?"

Kanji remembered the time that he'd tried to give Yukiko a few sewing lessons, and winced, suddenly not so sure that this was a good idea. "Uh…yeah, it'll be fine" he said uncertainly. "It's cool that you're into it, anyway. I, uh…I wanna help. Yeah."

"That's so kind of you. I'm really happy! I promise to be an excellent student and to make sure I pay very careful and close attention!" Fuuka was now beaming at him. Kanji went even redder. She was, he realized suddenly, actually kind of cute, now that he really looked at her.

"And of course," she continued, "I'll pay. How much do you think I should pay for an hour of lessons? I'm…well, I'm not really sure how this sort of thing usually works."

"Uh…pay?" Kanji blinked. "N-nah, you don't have to do that. 'S not like we don't' make enough around the shop already. Business is pretty damn good, lately. Ma's been pleased."

"But," insisted Fuuka," I'll be taking up so much of your time. I can't just let you waste your time like that. Please, I'd like to compensate you somehow. Isn't there anything I can give you?"

She was still staring intensely at him, almost begging with her eyes, and Kanji started to panic. "Uh, well, um…jeez…" He wondered what his mother would say if she heard about this. On one hand, he was always supposed to have the well-being of the business in mind, and she made sure to keep telling him that on a regular basis. On the other hand, she'd probably smack him for being rude enough to insist that a brand new neighbor (and a girl, too) pay for something that he'd already sort of offered to do for free.

"I could help out around the shop," suggested Fuuka hesitantly. "I don't know much about fabric, but I'm very good at explaining things to other people, and I've been told that I'm extremely patient. That can come in handy when it comes to customer service, can't it? I think so, anyway."

Kanji saw the light in the darkness, and reached for it." Y-yeah! That'd be great. We could always use an extra hand around here, and Ma'll be happy to meet a new neighbor anyway." At least, he thought, he hoped she would. She'd…probably be happy about this. Anyway, it was settled now, whether she liked it or not.

Unexpectedly, Fuuka was suddenly holding a neat little notebook and a pen. "Let's see," she mused. "What times are best for you? I should probably keep my days open so that I can look for some work in town, but my evenings are almost always very free."

"A-anything's probably fine," mumbled Kanji helplessly. "'S not like I go out much or anything. I mean, sometimes, with Senpai and the guys, but-!

Fuuka nodded. "So, like me?" She smiled "I don't go out much either. I usually get so distracted by cleaning up or trying to finish things around the house, or even just sitting in front of my computer that I never seem to get out and try anything new. I know I really should be making more of an effort, but now that I'm in a new place, maybe…" She trailed off and made a little note on her pad. "Do you think Thursday at seven will be all right? You're really sure you don't mind?"

A few minutes later, Fuuka had exited the store, notebook in hand and a happy little spring in her step. Kanji sat behind the counter and thought about how unexpectedly good she'd looked with that smile on her face.

_The hell have I gotten myself into, _he wondered. _Never have been much good around girls…_

**Fin. **


	6. Got Your Back

_Friendship is born at that moment when one man says to another: "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself …"_

-C.S. Lewis

**Fourth Story: Got Your Back**

**April 25, 2017**

Yosuke and Teddie, still technically on the clock at Junes, were headed through the shopping district on an errand. Teddie had managed to trip on a pile of merchandise with which one of the part-timers was still stocking a shelf, and in the process he'd knocked into one of the other workers who was in the middle of climbing a ladder. The resultant injuries required immediate attention, and so Yosuke and Teddie had hurried off to purchase a first aid kit, or…something.

When they arrived at Shiroku's store, there was someone coming out, juggling a large number of bags and parcels.

"Wow!" announced Teddie, his eyes gleaming. "Who's that? She's so cute! No, cute's not the right word. She's un-bearably beautiful!"

"Shut up, Ted," muttered Yosuke. "She'll hear you." Honestly, though, he couldn't help but agree, and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes off of the way the familiar pink Amagi Inn kimono brought out Aigis' blue eyes and showed off her curves.

"Good afternoon, Yosuke-san," said Aigis, inclining her head slightly and giving them both a polite little smile. Turning to Teddie, she said, "Forgive me, but I do not believe that we have been introduced. My name is Aigis."

"Nice to meetcha, Aigis!" Teddie sparkled with friendly, effervescent welcome. "I'm Teddie! I'm Yosuke's roommate, uh, sort of."

"Something like that," mumbled Yosuke. "Unfortunately."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Teddie," said Aigis. "I judge from your attire that you are also an employee of the department store known as 'Junes?' I am on my way in the direction of Junes at this moment. Amagi-san has instructed me to purchase…kimchi, cabbages, and shrimps." She frowned. "It is not clear to me exactly what these three things will be used for, but I confess that I have what one might refer to as a 'bad feeling.'"

Yosuke snorted a laugh, then tried to cover it with a cough." O-oh, so, when you say Amagi-san, you mean Yukiko, right? Not her mom?"

"Yes, that is correct," agreed Aigis. "How did you know that?"

"Uh…call it a hunch," said Yosuke, sharing a significant look with Teddie. "We've known Yukiko for a pretty long time…"

Aigis nodded. "A tacit understanding between long-term friends. I comprehend." She gave them another of her polite little smiles, then bowed very slightly and began to move past them. "If you will excuse me, I have my errands to complete. Please enjoy the rest of your day, Yosuke-san, Teddie-san."

"Okay! Bye bye!" Teddie waved at her, still grinning from ear-to-ear. "Jeez, Yosuke," he muttered none-too-quietly as Aigis swayed away, "How come you didn't tell me had such a hottie working at the Inn? When did she start? You're not trying to keep all the cute girls to yourself, are you? How rude!"

Yosuke, however, wasn't really listening. "Uh, Ted," he said, "I just realized I forgot my wallet back at Junes. I gotta go get it. You can get the first-aid stuff by yourself, right?"

Teddie blinked. "Huh? Wait, that's not-! I mean, I don't have any money! Yosukeeeeee, wait!"

With Teddie still calling out plaintively behind him, Yosuke jogged off until he caught up with Aigis.

"Oh, uh, hey," he said." You mind if I walk with you? I forgot my wallet back at Junes. Guess I'm kinda off my game this morning." He smiled, trying to look friendly and reliable despite the fictional lost wallet.

"That is acceptable," agreed Aigis mildly. "We are going in the same direction. It does make sense."

"R-right. Yeah. Cool." Yosuke took a deep breath. She really did look amazing in that kimono. He was having a hard time not staring, but he knew he had to find something to talk about. He didn't want to be that awkward guy who kept gaping and couldn't make any conversation. Teddie was that awkward guy. Kanji was sometimes that awkward guy. Yosuke was going to be smooth.

"So, how do you like Inaba so far?" he asked. "Kind of a snooze, right?"

Aigis frowned. "A…snooze?" She seemed to have to think about that for a second. "A noise made through uncomfortable respiration during sleep?"

"Oh, uh…" Yosuke paused. "Wait, is Japanese not your first language? Uh, sorry, I don't mean any offense, it's just…" Now that he thought about it, there was something slightly odd about her speech patterns. She had a beautiful voice, and she definitely understood syntax and grammar and stuff like that, but she sounded…well, actually, she sounded sort of like Naoto. Naoto always said things very carefully and used the biggest words she could possibly find. Aigis was sort of like that, like she wasn't totally comfortable with slang or street talk.

For some reason, that made Aigis smile. "No, it's not offensive," she assured him. "That is, however, a difficult question. I have…more than one first language. Japanese is one of them, but I speak a large number of languages."

Yosuke was impressed." Whoa, really? Like, how many?"

"Several," said Aigis modestly. "It has been frequently useful in my travels, and for work. I do not intend to brag. My apologies."

"Uh, no, you're not bragging. Actually, that's super cool, and anyway, I asked." Now it was Yosuke's turn to be magnanimous. "Dude, I studied English for all four years of high school and I can still barely figure out how you make the verbs work."

"English," murmured Aigis politely, "is a very complicated language. The structure of it is not logical at all. Even the alphabet is confusing. Why does one letter make so many sounds? Why do two letters make the same sound? It is very confusing. Do not worry too much about it."

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, confusing. You got that right."

For a few moments, the two of them walked in silence, enjoying the bright spring day.

"So, then, I gotta ask," said Yosuke eventually. "Why Inaba? You sound like you've got a lot of marketable skills. You speak a bunch of languages. You've traveled a lot. You're, uh, kind of out of our league, right?"

"I would not put it that way," demurred Aigis.

Yosuke shook his head. "Nah, it's true, though. People around here aren't all sophisticated like you are. So…what are you doing in our Podunk town?"

Aigis took a quick look around. The shopping district wasn't exactly bustling at this time of day, but it was humming nicely. The housewives were out and about, doing their shopping. The sun was shining and the kids were playing in the street, which was safe due to an almost complete lack of any active traffic.

"It is not so bad here," she said finally. "It is peaceful. There is a great deal to be said for quiet and peace. That, I think, is why Fuuka-san chose this place. We needed somewhere to be calm and at rest for a little while."

Yosuke waited for her to elaborate on that, but after a little while he realized that she wasn't going to." Oh, so you came here with her, right? It was her idea?"

"Yes," agreed Aigis. "We came here together from Port Island, which is a much bigger and busier place. Our friend Minako-san is very tired. She has had a very long and exhausting few years full of complexity and trials that most people cannot understand. We brought her here so that she could rest. It is important that she find some peace. Fuuka-san agrees."

For once, Aigis didn't sound so sure of herself.

"Yeah?" asked Yosuke, unsure of what else to say. He figured it'd probably be rude to ask exactly what this friend of hers was suffering from.

"Yes," agreed Aigis. "And…I have hopes. I hope that it works. I hope that she is happier here. It is of the utmost importance to me."

Yosuke, who hadn't met this mysterious Minako character yet, chewed on his lip and nodded. "You're a pretty selfless person, huh?"

Aigis gave him a look. "Pardon me?"

"Well," continued Yosuke, "you drop everything and come all the way out to bumfuck just to help your friend get a little R and R? That's kind of a big deal. Not everybody would do something like that, you know?"

"The nature of the town in question is not of any significant importance," Aigis informed him quietly. "It does not matter to me if there are nightclubs or if there are no nightclubs. What is the phrase one often uses? 'It is not important where you are, but instead it is important who you are with.' That's correct, isn't it?"

"Uh…well, yeah, definitely," agreed Yosuke hurriedly. "I mean, I say that a lot myself. It doesn't really matter where you are as long as you're spending your time with the people you care about, right? And, I mean, if there's something you can do somewhere to make someone else happy, you should do it. That's part of what it means to be a friend."

Aigis didn't say anything at first, but instead gave Yosuke a long, thoughtful look. Aware that he'd been going on and saying a lot of deep stuff that probably made him sound like an idiot, Yosuke flushed and looked away.

"That," said Aigis eventually, "is correct. I am pleased to see that you understand so well, Yosuke-san. You must, I think, be a very good friend."

"Uh…well…I try." Yosuke mumbled and fidgeted with his apron. "It's…you know, I mean, if you don't have someone's back, what do you have?"

**Fin. **


	7. The Law Won

_Rules help us live our lives when we lose the will to do it on our own._

_-_Yvonne Woon

**Fifth Story: The Law Won**

**April 26, 2017**

Adachi stood awkwardly in front of the Dojima family couch while Dojima gave him a long, appraising, disapproving look.

"You're late," growled Dojima.

Adachi ran a hand through his greasy, tousled hair. "S-sorry," he mumbled. "I, uh, overslept. Forgot to set my alarm." When Dojima didn't say anything but just kept glaring at him, Adachi added defensively, "I mean, hey, come on, it's been a long time since I've had to get up on time for anything, right? Sheesh."

"Don't make excuses," snapped Dojima. "Next time I tell you to be here at eight, you show up at-!"

"Seven forty-five," muttered Adachi before Dojima could finish. "Yeah. I know."

"Seven forty-five," Dojima finished anyway, barely even pausing in his stride. "That's right. Glad to see you learned something from me after all, even if it never ended up amounting to much in your case."

Adachi rolled his eyes. "And then," he went on under his breath, really more to himself than to Dojima, "when I show up at seven forty-five, I…what? I sit there and twiddle my thumbs while you run around the house wondering where your pants are, where Nanako is, and how you're gonna her ready for school on time. That right? Cause, that's what happened the last three times I-!"

From somewhere out of sight in the kitchen, Nanako said "I'm twelve years old. I can get ready for school by myself. Dad doesn't need to help me anymore." She sounded like she was trying to decide if she wanted to be indignant or burst out laughing. Adachi hazarded the beginning of a grin.

"Shut up," snarled Dojima, wiping the smile off of Adachi's face. "If all you're gonna do is make fun of me, then I can always put you back in prison. All I have to do is make a phone call. You know that, right?"

"Y-yeah." Adachi glowered at his feet and tried not to visibly seethe. "Yeah, I know. You tell me pretty much every chance you get."

Dojima nodded. "Don't you forget it, either."

Adachi took a deep breath. "Sure I got it."

"And another thing," said Dojima, leaning forward and trying to get a better luck into Adachi's averted eyes. "One of the guys at the station says he saw you at the Shiroku pub the other day talking with a teenage girl, and that the two of you left together. What do you have to say about that?"

"Wha-? Her?" Adachi blinked. "H-hey, look, it's not what you think. I mean, nothing happened. It's not like that. She just, uh, wanted to talk about some stuff. That's all." Beads of sweat were starting to collect on his forehead.

Dojima raised an eyebrow. "With you? Why would she want to spend time talking with you?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Adachi threw up his hands in exasperation. "She's a woman. They don't usually do stuff for reasons that make a lot of sense. Anyway, like I said, nothing happened, okay?"

Dojima spent a long moment watching Adachi, who cleared his throat uncomfortably, but did eventually look defiantly back at him.

"If you say so," agreed Dojima slowly. Looking relieved, Adachi finally turned away.

"Anyway," he muttered under his breath, so softly that Dojima could barely hear him, "she said she was twenty-two. I didn't know she was underage. Honestly, officer, I'm innocent." He grinned to himself again.

"What was that?" snapped Dojima.

"Uh, n-nothing. Just joking." Adachi sighed. "Jeez, you still don't have a sense of humor, do you? Poor Nanako-chan. Looks like nothing in this town's changed a bit…."

Dojima gave up. "Just get out," he muttered. "Next time you're supposed to show up, you show up on time, got that? Oh, and wash your face. You might at least make an effort."

Mumbling miserably to himself, Adachi turned on his heel and left the Dojima residence, slamming the door behind him as he went. Dojima sat back in his chair, rubbed his aching temples, and took a deep breath.

"Dad?" Nanako came out of the kitchen and gave Dojima an uncertain look. "Um, I know you have to be extra careful, but…don't you think you're being a little too hard on Adachi-san? I mean, um…well, weren't you the one that told all those reporters that you don't think he's gonna hurt people anymore?"

Dojima nodded. "That's right. That's what I said." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder in Adachi's direction. "No, I don't think he's dangerous. Just look at him. He's not a killer. He's barely a man. His lip shakes when he talks to you, and he can hardly stand up straight or look you in the eye. Turns out he's still got at least a little bit of that fight in him, though." He smiled slightly, and Nanako looked confused.

"Then…" She frowned. "How come you have to be so harsh? If you don't think he's dangerous, then…?" She paused, glanced down at her hands, and then added, "Do you really hate Adachi-san that much?"

Dojima gazed thoughtfully at his almost teenage daughter, and saw Chisato Dojima's kindness shining out of Nanako's eyes.

"No, I don't hate him," he admitted. "Don't you dare ever tell him that, though. Understand?"

Nanako nodded quickly. "Oh…okay. But, why? Why do you act like that? I don't get it."

"Well…" Dojima wondered if Nanako was really old enough o take something like this to heart and understand it. "Um, it's kind of like this. You remember all that stuff that Adachi said, back when they arrested him for murder? He kept going on and on about people inside the TV, monsters, gods…" He scowled, remembering the nonsense that had spewed of Adachi the moment he'd been first accused. "Well, anyway, you know what he said, right?"

For some reason, Nanako suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Y-yeah. I remember."

"Well, of course I don't believe that crap," Dojima went on carefully, "but I think…I think maybe he believes it. No, I know he does. I watched his face when he was telling that story, maybe a hundred times. I think maybe there's been something not quite right about Adachi for a long time. It's been a while since he's had any control of himself. He does things without being able to stop, or even knowing why he does them. And then, on top of all of that, when he finally tried to own up to the shit he'd done, nobody believed him. He said he'd killed those women, and nobody could prove it, so they told him he was nuts and gave him six years instead of life."

Nanako nodded. "But that's…good, isn't it? I mean, um, for Adachi-san. He doesn't…want to be in prison, does he?"

"Uh, well…not exactly," muttered Dojima. "But I think he wants to feel safe. There's a problem when your actions have no consequences. He has no idea what's going to happen next, or what he's going to do, or even what the damn authorities are going to do. The rules don't apply. For him, the world stopped making sense a long time ago. People need structure to help them live. They need to know that if you do A, you'll get B, or you don't do A, you won't get B. Chaos is scary. Structure makes you feel safe, and like you know what the hell's going on, even if it makes you miserable at the same time." He paused, frowned at Nanako's upturned face, and asked "Does that…uh, make any sense, Nanako?"

Unexpectedly, Nanako giggled." Uh huh. So, then, that's why you're giving him so many rules? Because being a parole officer is sort of like being a dad?"

"Huh?" Dojima blinked." Well, I guess that's kinda…"

"Something like that," agreed Yu, appearing on the stairs and descending to join them. "What Uncle Dojima's trying to say is that he's giving Adachi-san something to latch on to. After all, you can't have authority problems without a recognized authority, right?"

Dojima glared. "That's not what I'm saying at all. And where the hell did you come from? It's late. Go eat your breakfast, you've got work to do today."

Nanako and Yu grinned knowingly at each other as they hurried back into the kitchen together, leaving Dojima alone to finish writing his police report.

**Fin. **

**Author's End Note: **FanFiction Site Moderators, this one's for you.


	8. A Gift

**Author's Note: ** Thank you very much to the two guest reviewers who have left such encouraging words! I'm very glad that you prefer this new story that I am writing...and I'd have to agree with you. I prefer this short/multiple story collection style very much. Really makes me smile to see that you agree!

I hope you continue to enjoy what you read.

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_You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give. _

-Winston Churchill

**Sixth Story: A Gift**

**April 30, 2017**

Minako had taken to walking around the town at night, and sometimes in the very, very early hours of the morning. She was often restless and found that after eight years of being in a state of permanent physical suspension, she couldn't sleep much these days. Maybe she'd just slept enough for an eternity. Maybe she was just too tired to sleep, or maybe both of those things were true.

Inaba was a nice safe place to stroll through in the dark. The idea of a confrontation with a punk or aggressor didn't really upset Minako, but it was nice that she didn't have to spend time worrying about it. The streets were mostly deserted and quiet, and she was left alone with her thoughts, which was relieving and relaxing.

It was hard for Minako to be with people. Whenever she met someone new, she already knew everything there was to know about them, even if she'd never met or seen them before. She undersood at a core and basic level what they feared, what they loved, what they needed and what they wanted. She believed in them and recognized their capacity for error and destruction at the same time. After so many years as the beacon of humanity's hope, trapped in a limbo where she felt everything and yet experienced nothing firsthand, it was hard for Minako to look at any single human being as an individual. She kept seeing them as pieces and parts of the greater human race, all of whom had encouraged and disappointed her so repeatedly over the years that at this stage she mostly just wanted them to leave her alone and let her rest.

At the same time, Minako herself found that she couldn't just leave well enough alone. It wasn't in her nature to abandon the people that or the world that she loved.

When she turned the corner and passed by the tiny shopping district shrine, Minako was surprised to see Adachi kneeling on the ground in front of the offertory box. At first, she thought he was praying. As she walked towards him, however, he muttered a curse under his breath, stood up, and started brushing the mud and mulch of off his pants. He was holding a couple of aluminum cans in one hand, and a candy wrapper in the other.

"Oh," said Minako, understanding at last. "We had that problem back home, too. Sometimes people can be so disrespectful. Then again, you don't have very many places for kids to hang out. Maybe if Inaba had more safe spaces for kids, they wouldn't spend their time trashing the shrine."

Adachi looked up, glared, and then turned away. "Yeah, well, tell that to the beautification committee, not me. It's not my problem."

"You're cleaning up the mess, though," noted Minako." That's nice of you."

Adachi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, cause I'm such a stand-up guy," he said sarcastically. "It's community service. Dojima-san ordered me out here to pick up all the damn trash. Not like I had a choice," he insisted, scowling pointedly down at the cans in his hand.

"Dojima-san's your parole officer?" asked Minako.

"S-something like that," mumbled Adachi. "You know, we used to be partners? Heh…well, honestly, it was pretty much like this back then, too. Him always ordering me around, and me doing the dirty work. Nothing's changed." Turning away from her, he bent down and snatched up a sake bottle. "Hell. What a mess."

Minako held a hand out to him, and when he looked up, he found her waiting, arm outstretched. After a moment's wary hesitation, he took the hand and let her help him back to his feet. For some reason, his hand started trembly very slightly in hers, and he snatched it quickly away again.

"What," he demanded, "are you doing here, anyway?"

Minako shrugged. "I was taking a walk. The weathergirl said it was going to be a beautiful day." Glancing up at the sky, she smiled, and added, "I think she was right. This is a pretty town. I'm enjoying my vacation very much, so far."

Adachi scoffed "You know what time it is, right? What's wrong with you? You should be sleeping. I would be if I could. Anyway, I gotta get out of here. Dojima-san doesn't want me around when people start coming out to do errands. He says," he sneered, "I'll 'scare the children.'"

Minako was reasonably certain that this Dojima-san had that part wrong. Children, she knew, weren't as easily frightened as adults so frequently assumed they were. In fact, adults were usually the ones who got scared by the idea of a criminal on the loose. It would be the parents, not the children, who got upset at the sight of Adachi.

Adachi was now glaring down at his muddy, scuffed up shoes. "Jeez," he muttered. "These were new, and it's not like I get a new pair every day. This sucks."

"I'm sure you did things like this all the time when you were on the police force," countered Minako. "The police get stuck will all kinds of very messy jobs back home on Port Island."

Adachi laughed derisively. "Right? You're right, that kind of thing sure happened a lot." He sighed. "And I didn't like it much then, either, but at least I was getting paid. I mean, if you're getting something out of it then I guess the messy work isn't as bad as all that, but this is just a waste of time. I'm a mess, I'm covered in crap, and it's not like there's a light at the end of the tunnel, you know?"

The sky, by now, had begun to lighten, and the sun was coming up overhead. Minako could hear the sounds of businesses coming alive for the day, as shop doors opened and hushed voices began in the streets.

"You've done a service for the community," Minako said. "That's something. You should feel good about that."

Adachi stared at her. "What…are you stupid or something? What the hell has this 'community' ever done for me? I don't owe them anything. I don't want to 'do a service.' I want to go back to bed." He paused, gave her a long, dubious look, and then added, "You're like him, aren't you?"

"Him?" asked Minako.

"Uh, I know this one guy." Adachi shook his head, and then waved that comment dismissively away. "Anyway, I mean, you're one of those goody-two-shoes dumbasses who says shit like 'you're doing a service for the community' and expects that to mean something really profound. You're, uh…yeah, you belong in this town with the rest of them. Sheesh."

Minako smiled sweetly at him. "I'm not sure I love how you put it, but thank you. I like to think that I'm the kind of person who sees the good in things. I'd like to get along here. If you say so, your friend and I might hit off. I'd like to meet him."

"Oh boy." Adachi turned away from her. "Just what I need, another-!"

Down on the sidewalk, a group of children suddenly ran out of one of the houses and encountered another group of children already waiting in the middle of the road. They began giggling and talking excitedly at one another, while a slightly older girl in the middle of the group tried to calm them all down.

Adachi winced and stopped in his tracks. "Uh," he mumbled.

Minako raised an eyebrow. "Don't like kids?"

"It's…uh…that's not it." He was watching the older girl in the center of the group. "Forget it. I'll just…"

It was too late. At that moment, the older girl looked up, caught sight of Adachi and Minako, and blinked in surprise. Minako smiled, and for a split second she and the girl locked eyes. Minako glanced over her shoulder at Adachi, and then the girl nodded, said something to the children that Minako couldn't hear, and came hurrying over towards the shrine. Adachi looked like he wanted to bolt, but the girl was too fast for him.

"Adachi-san!" The girl panted, then took a deep breath and gave him a very sunny smile that Minako was almost sure wasn't forced. "Good morning!"

"Uh, hey there, Nanako-chan." Adachi nodded. "Morning. What are you doing up so early?"

Nanako gestured at the children down on the street. "I'm babysitting. Their mothers are all going shopping together today, so they asked me if I could help out." She waved at the children, who started noisiy making their way over to where Nanako, Adachi, and Minako were standing. Adachi muttered something unpleasant under his breath.

The children clustered around Nanako. "Look everyone" she announced. "All the trash is gone! Let's play here, today! Who wants to play 'duck, duck, goose?'"

"I do! I do!" The children all shouted and jumped up and down, waving their hands excitedly. "Pick me first, Nanako-san! Please, pick me!"

Adachi and Minako watched while Nanako arranged the children in a circle on the ground. They gazed up expectantly at her, fidgeting with fingers and feet and waiting eagerly for their turn.

w"This man," said Nanako, nodding at Adachi, "cleaned up all that trash for us so that we could play here! That's nice, isn't it? What do we say?"

One little boy got there first while the other children were still thinking. "Thank you, Mister!"

"Yeah, thanks!" Another girl agreed, nodding.

"Thank you so much!" A very, very small girl grinned at Adachi with the few teeth that she had in her mouth. Minako watched as Adachi carefully hid a laugh behind a snarky little cough.

Nanako began walking around the circle and tapping children gently on the head. "Duck," she began. "Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck. GOOSE!"

She ran just a little bit too slowly, laughing as the tiniest girl chased her around the circle and eventually tapped her enthusiastically on the back.

"I got you!" the girl announced delightedly. Nanako nodded, taking a deep, exaggerated breath. Then, before Nanako had a chance to speak, the girl ran over to Adachi, grabbed on to his sleeve, and started pulling him back towards the circle. "Come play with us, trash man! It's fun! You'll like it! It's my favorite game!"

"Huh? 'Trash man?'" Adachi's eyes widened in panic. "Wait, look, this isn't…whoa, seriously!" Protesting all the way, he ended up back in the circle with the other children, all of whom beamed excitedly at him while the littlest girl graciously ceded him her place.

"Uh," he mumbled uncertainly, glancing back at Minako and Nanako. They nodded encouragingly at him, and after another moment's hesitation, he gingerly reached out and touched the top of a little boy's head. Again, there was that look of slight shock on his face as he made contact. "D-duck…duck…"

Minako smiled.

"Um…their parents aren't going to like this," murmured Nanako uncertainly "I'm pretty sure that every Mom and Dad in town tells their kid to stay away from Adachi-san. I…can't really blame them. Everyone knows about what happened before..."

"I know." Minako nodded. "But look at him. He isn't going to hurt them. Well, no, that might not be true. He's so nervous that he might trip and fall on one of them if they're all not careful."

"Haha, yeah." Nanako grinned. "Um…actually, I think Adachi-san sort of likes little kids. I sorta...I mean, we used to get along really well, when I was little. He was always really nice to me, even when..."

She paused, sighed, and looked upset.

He doesn't like adults very much, though." Nanako shook her head.

As Adachi sat down in the circle, still looking terrified, another child got up and began to tap his friends on the head.

"I'm Minako," said Minako, offering Nanako a hand. "I think we're neighbors, actually. I'm sorry that I haven't introduced myself before."

"Oh!" Nanako took the hand eagerly. "That's right! I'm sorry! I'm Nanako Dojima. I'm very glad to meet you! Um, Dad and Big Bro would be very happy if you and your friends would come to the house sometime. They're nice. I mean, Big Bro's nice. Dad's kind of scary, but…he's a good person, when you get to know him. I promise."

"I'll do that. Definitely." Minako nodded "It's very nice to meet you too, Nanako-chan."

Behind them, a little boy shouted, "GOOSE!"

"Aw, crap," muttered Adachi. His little friend with the gaps in her teeth planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"That," she informed him, shaking her finger and narrowing her little eyes, "is NOT a nice word, Trash Man!"

Much to Minako's delight, Adachi winced. "S-sorry," he mumbled. "I mean...uh...yeah. You're right. You shouldn't say stuff like that. It's not polite."

The little girl looked mollified. Nanako started to laugh.

**Fin. **


	9. Hard Work: Chapter One

**Author's Note: **Am I using snippets and ideas drawn from many of my previous stories? Why yes, I am. Adopt, adapt, and improve. Maybe this time I'll get it right!

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_The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don't wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope and you will fill yourself with hope._

_-_Barack Obama

**Seventh Story: Hard Work**

**May 2, 2017**

**Chapter One:**

Naoto had just finished cleaning up all the extraneous papers and trash on her desk when she noticed Dojima grumbling to himself over by the coffee maker.

"Dojima-san?" She strode over to him. "Is something wrong?"

Dojima gave the machine the kind of baleful, vengeful stares that he so often used to scare shiftless subordinates. That sort of thing worked very well on people, but had no effect whatsoever on machines.

Naoto thought she'd identified the problem. "Has the coffee maker stopped working again?"

Dojima grumbled unhappily. "Should never have gotten into the habit of using this damn thing. Instant coffee my ass. It's barely worked a day since we bought it." He gave the coffee maker a thump for good measure, which achieved absolutely nothing.

"Ah." Naoto frowned. "Well, sir, I am going out. If you like I can stop off at Junes on the way back, and bring you a cup of.."

She trailed off, because Dojima was shaking his head. "Nah," he muttered. "Forget it. Doesn't matter. Maybe I'd better…nah, nevermind." Abandoning the machine, he turned to face her. "You all done cleaning up? Seems like you started working with us again just yesterday. Gonna be kind of weird without you around the station. Then again, without you and your brilliant 'deductions,' maybe some of the other guys'll actually use their brains, for a change. I won't get my hopes up."

Naoto had worked with Dojima enough to know that this was a strange and slightly backhanded attempt at a complement. "Thank you, sir," she murmured, and was pleased when he grinned back at her. "I am glad that I've been able to be of some service, at least. I will, of course, miss working with the Inaba police department as well. There's…well, coming back here is always sort of like…like coming home."

She flushed a little, but thankfully Dojima didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, well, you can always come home, alright? You belong here as much as Yu and the rest of 'em do. I mean…it's been enough years now that I've started thinking about the lot of you like my own kids. Bet you knew that already, though."

Naoto's heart did an awkward sort of somersault-flop. "Th-thank you sir," she mumbled, averting her eyes. "I've…I appreciate that sentiment very much. You…I mean, this town, and everyone in it means a great deal to me. I'm sure I've…I've made that clear."

Dojima nodded, still smiling, and Naoto did her best to compose her features into what she hoped was an expression of placid gratitude.

_It's not as though I've ever expected anything, _she reminded herself. _There is, after all, nothing to expect. I'm…well, I'm certainly young enough to be his daughter. Indeed, for the longest time he might as well have thought of me as a son, rather than a daughter. It's…it certainly would be ridiculous to presume that he might, in any way, feel…no. No, I should be honored to be considered anything beyond the level of a respected colleague, of course. _

"Huh?" Dojima frowned. "What's up? You look, uh…"

"It's..it's nothing." Naoto cleared her throat hastily. "I seem to be developing something of a cold. What a shame. I suppose once the adrenaline rush of the case has ended, that's relatively typical, isn't it? All the great detectives say so. Sherlock Holmes, and Sam Spade. Sam Vimes…"

"Oh. Well, that makes sense." Dojima nodded.

For a moment, the two of them stood in silence. Naoto hoped her face wasn't as read as it felt.

"So?" Dojima chewed thoughtfully on his lip. "What's next?"

Naoto blinked. "Sir?"

"For you," clarified Dojima. "I mean, where do you go from here?"

"Oh," Naoto said, shrugging, "it's unclear at this time. No doubt there will be a few uncomfortable weeks of idleness before a new case appears that requires my attention. I shall spend at least some of the time attending to the needs of my Grandpa. As I understand it, his recent immobility is sitting poorly with him, and…well, there have been some complaints in the town about his conduct. I shall see to any necessary arrangements. Perhaps a better facility, or at least a better wheelchair."

"Oh yeah…I heard about that." Dojima sighed. "Sorry. In the end, though, it'll happen to all of us. Sucks getting old, but as long as he's still feisty, he's probably fine. It's when they stop fighting that you should start worrying."

"Yes," Naoto nodded. "I agree."

"Is that why you're not thinking about college?" Dojima shot the question unexpectedly at Naoto and caught her totally off guard. "Because you're worried about what'll happen to Grandpa?"

"I…" Naoto opened her mouth, closed it, took a deep breath, and then said, "No, not exactly. I mean…I suppose that's certainly a factor in the decision. I would hate to abandon my Grandpa to his discomfiture, but…"

She paused, and Dojima continued to look at her expectantly. "But what?"

"But, honestly, I do not feel that the collegiate experience would benefit me overmuch." Naoto shrugged." I find that the sort of intellectual exercises proposed in the modern day academic curriculum pose no great or taxing challenge. Quite honestly, I'm bored by questions of literary analysis and mathematic theory. I vastly prefer the problems posed by current occupation. It is also certain that if I were to attempt to follow any kind of rigorous academic schedule, I would be of very little use to the country, as the police would no longer be able to rely on me to meet emergent needs."

Dojima narrowed his eyes. "Nevertheless," he muttered, "a college education is important. I mean, if it's about the money, or anything like that…but in your case, I don't think so. Don't assume you're too smart to get anything out of higher education. It'd probably be a good idea for you to see a little more of the outside world, and interact with some kids your own age."

"I have many friends of a similar age in this town," countered Naoto. "My work as a consulting detective takes me to many different locations around the country as well, so I've no lack of 'greater world' experience, Dojima-san."

Dojima looked exasperated. "Yeah, but…" He grumbled something and threw up his hands. "Forget it. I just feel like you're missing out on something important. Doesn't seem right, that's all."

For a moment, Naoto watched the frustrated look on his big, familiar, and slightly too-red face.

"Dojima-san," she heard herself ask before she'd even realized the words were on their way out, "would you prefer it if I were to leave this town?"

Dojima blinked." Wha-? Where the hell'd you get an idea like that? That's not what I meant at all, and you know it."

He scowled, and Naoto exhaled, feeling against her better judgment, infinitely relieved.


	10. Hard Work: Chapter Two

**Chapter Two:**

Yukiko sighed, gazing down at the large number of bags, parcels and packages that she'd just finished purchasing at Junes.

_I can't carry all of these at the same time, _she thought, eyeing the intersection where several cars were making their way at a reasonable pace down the street. _I have no idea how I'm going to get all this over to the inn. I should have been more careful…or maybe just less excited. Should I leave some over here and make trips? _

Behind Yukiko, someone coughed. Yukiko turned around to see Chie wearing her brand new Inaba police department uniform, glowing with pride and eyeing the collection of bags and boxes.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said Chie, deepening her voice for effect. "Looks like you're having some trouble there. Please allow me to assist you."

She winked. Yukiko giggled.

Together, they gathered up the bags, and then Chie strode out into the center of the intersection, holding one arm imperiously out in front of her. She blew her regulation police whistle and slowly traffic ground to a halt. Then she turned and beckoned to Yukiko, who hurried across, still trying to juggle a large number of unwieldy bags. Chie followed after with the rest of the bags, and traffic continued on its way.

"Thank you!" Yukiko frowned. "But…are you really supposed to do that?"

"Huh? Well, uh, no, probably not." Chie shrugged. "It's only really bad if I get caught, though, right? Anyway, isn't that kind of the point of being a cop? I mean, helping little old ladies across the street, and stuff like that."

"What-?" Yukiko blinked. "Old? But, Chie, you're even a few months older than me!' I'm not-!"

Chie laughed. "Aw, come on, I was just kidding. You gotta admit, though, you did kinda look like some old bag lady carrying all that stuff. Are you going to the inn? I'll go with you. You'll drop something and break it if you try to get all the way there by yourself."

They walked up the street together, talking companionably and enjoying the limited and familiar sights and sounds of the Inaba afternoon.

"So, Chie," began Yukiko, "what's it like? I mean, now that you're really in the police! know that's been a dream of yours for a long time, so…is it everything you expected?"

"Um…well…sort of?" Chie shrugged. "I mean, it's great, yeah! The uniform's pretty cool, and it's a big rush to get to walk into the station every morning like I belong there." She grinned. "But, um, honestly, I'm just a rookie, so it's not like I get any of the big important jobs yet. Mostly I have to follow the other guys around and act like I'm learning something, but all they really do is make dirty jokes and try to get free stuff from the food booths."

Yukiko was surprised. "Even Dojima-san?"

"What? Oh, no way! Dojima-san's awesome!" Chie nodded enthusiastically. "I mean, he's like, the supercop! He's, uh, really scary too, though. I mean, I know we go way back, but it's not like he takes it easy on me just because his nephew and I are friends. He really shouts a lot. Keeps me on my toes."

"Oh, I see," murmured Yukiko. "Well…honestly, it sounds tough. I mean, I know you've always wanted it, but I think it would just make me really nervous."

"Aw, nah, nothing to be nervous about," Chie insisted. "I mean, yeah, we mess up and stuff, but when one of us messes up, somebody else steps in to have his back. Like…it's sort of like we're a family, I guess."

That made Yukiko smile. "I think I can understand that. You seem happy. I'm so glad…"

"But uh, what about you?" Chie rounded on Yukiko eagerly. "I mean, now that you're the new manager of the inn you're kind of a big deal, right? No, you don't even have to tell me, I hear all about it from people in town. They say the inn's gotten even better since you stepped up! Not that I'm surprised, of course." She beamed loyally at Yukiko.

Yukiko flushed. "Oh, no, it's not really like that…I mean, mother did all of the difficult work. I'm only stepping into her shoes. All of the recent improvements were her idea."

"Yeah, sure they were." Chie dismissed that with a wave of one hand." But, anyway, I mean, everything's coming together for you now, right? You've got a great j ob, you're super important, and now your boyfriend's back in town? So, then, when are you two gonna get married?"

Yukiko stopped and stared. "Wha…? Chie! What are you saying?"

"Well…I mean, you want to, don't you?" Chie shrugged. "And you guys are so in love that it's pretty disgusting, so I figure that it's gotta happen eventually."

"I...I don't know. Maybe, but…" Yukiko sighed. "I don't know if he wants to, and he hasn't asked me. We've never even talked about getting married. I think it might be a little too soon to start thinking about that sort of thing, especially considering we've both just graduated college, and he hasn't even found work yet. I mean…he might not even stay in Inaba."

Chie's face fell." Oh. Um. I-I see. Uh, sorry I brought it up, then."

For a few uncomfortable moments, they walked side by side in silence.

"You don't really think Yu's gonna leave, do you?" Chie sounded worried. "I thought we were all supposed to be together again. You know, finally, after all the stuff that's happened, we're all gonna get the band back together and have a happy ending. Right?"

"Band?" asked Yukiko.

Chie shook her head. "Um, no, it's just an expression. But…?"

Yukiko frowned. "Well…I know he wants to stay, and of course we all promised that we'd try to stay together, now, but…you never know what can happen. He'll have to find a job somewhere, and Inaba isn't very big. I don't think he knows exactly what he wants to do yet with the rest of his life, but whatever that thing is it might not be here. It's hard to say. I'm trying not to get too upset about it. I think…I think we all just have to trust his judgment and hope for the best."

"And if he does decide to leave," agreed Chie, "then we have to smile and act like good friends. Right?"

Yukiko nodded. Chie chewed unhappily on her lip.

"Okay," she said eventually. "I can do that, I think."

"Of course we can," insisted Yukiko quietly. "After all, we just want him to be happy. That's all I want for all of you. I just want you to all be happy. We deserve that this time, don't we?"

"Sure," agreed Chie. "Everybody deserves to be happy."

A young couple walked by, holding hands and whispering in each other's ears. Yukiko and Chie paused to let them pass.

"What about you, Chie?" Yukiko gestured at the couple. "Wouldn't you like to find someone to spend your time with?"

Chie blinked, opened her mouth, closed it again, and turned a predictable shade of scarlet red. "Wh-where'd that come from, all of a sudden? I mean…um…sure, that'd…be nice, maybe, but who cares about that right now?"

"I just thought" insisted Yukiko "that since you've decided to stay in Inaba, you might be ready to settle down and find a husband for yourself."

"Um…no! I mean, not yet? Maybe?" Chie sounded uncertain. "Look, it's not like I really need that in my life right now. I mean, I should totally be focusing on my new job, and getting stuff right, and not getting shouted at by Dojima-san, right? I gotta buckle down and focus. Dating's messy. That's…you know, that's something for another time, I guess."

"I see." Yukiko nodded.

Chie frowned, glanced quickly over her shoulder, and then leaned into Yukiko muttering, "but, honestly, and I'm only saying this because it's you, Yukiko…there is kind of this one guy. Last week he asked me out to Okina for a movie, but I was too busy so I couldn't make it. I was thinking…maybe I'll call him and see if he wants to go to Aiya sometime? Is that weird? Is Chinese food an okay thing for a date, do you think?"

"A date?" Yukiko tried not to get too excited. "No! No, Chinese food isn't a strange thing to eat on a date at all. But, wait, Chie…who is it? Who are we talking about?"

"Um…" Chie looked uncertain. "You…you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Of course!" Yukiko pressed her hand against her heart. "Do you really have to ask?"


	11. Hard Work: Chapter Three

**Author's Note: **So, I am curious. In all of my previous stories, Naoto has had a long-term crush on Dojima, which I've always found to be an appealing idea. I've never really considered taking their relationship any farther than that, though.

Should I try it this time? Should I see what would happen if Dojima actually became interested in Naoto? I"m curious to hear your thoughts on this.

* * *

**Chapter Three: **

"Um…excuse me."

Dojima looked up from his computer as a young woman with a ponytail stepped into the room. "I'm sorry…but, I was hoping that maybe you could help me. I'm looking for a Detective Dojima?"

Dojima nodded curtly. "That's me. What can I do for you, uh…?"

He knew he'd seen her before, but couldn't for the life of him remember her name. She was definitely one of the girls who'd just moved in next door, but she wasn't the one who worked at the Amagi Inn, and she wasn't the one who'd started showing up after hours outside Tatsumi Textiles. She was, in fact, the mysterious third roommate whom no one really seemed to know anything about.

"Minako," volunteered the girl, holding out a hand. "My name's Minako Arisato. I'm here about the job opening."

Her handshake was a lot firmer and more assertive than her girly little voice and tiny frame would have led Dojima to expect. He gave her an appraising once-over.

"Um…you know, for the secretary position?" Minako was watching him expectantly. "The nice woman at the front desk told me that you were still hiring, and I know that I don't have an appointment. I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I thought it couldn't hurt to at least ask." She smiled in a very comfortable, friendly sort of way.

"Uh huh." Dojima frowned, and swiveled around in his chair. "Yeah, we've got an opening. You got a resume?"

Minako shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. This would be my first real professional position."

"Oh, yeah?" Dojima raised an eyebrow. Now that he came to think about it, she did look awfully young. "Where'd you graduate high school?"

"I didn't, sir." She said it with a completely straight face, as though the admission didn't bother her at all. "The last high school I attended was Gekkoukan High School on Port Island. There…are records, if you want to check."

Dojima nodded slowly. "And what did you do, drop out?"

For some reason, Minako laughed, and there was something very disconcerting about that laugh that Dojima couldn't quite put his finger on. "Well, I guess you could put it that way. There were, um, health complications. I was unable to finish the year."

"I see…" Dojima pulled a slightly crumpled piece of paper out of his desk, scowled at it, and then jotted down a few notes. He struggled a little as he tried to remember what she'd said her first name was.

"I'm afraid I've had health trouble for several years," Minako was saying. "It's only recently that I've been able to start living on my own, again."

Dojima wondered if this girl knew what a ridiculously bad case she was making for herself, or if she was really stupid enough to think that she might be a reasonably good applicant for the position. _High school drop-out, too sick to work for years...this is a mess. What the hell makes her think she's qualified to work in a police station? Doesn't sound like she's qualified to do much of anything. I did hear that they're hiring dishwashers for Saturday nights at Aiya…._

He was just trying to figure out how to let her down easily when the door opened and Adachi strolled in, looking annoyed.

"Uh, you sent me a text," he muttered. "What is it?"

Dojima raised an eyebrow and waited. Adachi sighed and his shoulders slumped.

"What is it, _sir,_" he drawled with bad grace. "Something you need me for?"

"Yeah." Dojima waved a hand in the direction of the coffee machine. "I can't get the thing working. You were always better with that thing than I was. Go and see if you can get it to make me some damn coffee."

"Wha…? Seriously?" Adachi rolled his eyes. "Come on, you get me out of bed for this? Jeez…"

"You shouldn't be sleeping in the middle of the day anyway," snapped Dojima, as Adachi strode over and began messing with the coffee machine. "You should be putting your time to better use, looking for jobs or trying to find something worthwhile to do with yourself, more like this young lady."

Dojima nodded at Minako, and Adachi looked over at her for the first time. Something happened when the two of them locked eyes, and Minako smiled while Adachi's mouth dropped open in surprise. His cheeks went just a little paler before he turned quickly away.

_Huh, _thought Dojima. _So they've met before. I _wonder_ what that's all about…_

"Good afternoon, Adachi-san," murmured Minako politely.

"Uh…yeah," muttered Adachi in some confusion, focusing fixedly on the kitchen sink. "Same to you."

It didn't take him long to get the coffee maker working again. Dojima was never sure exactly what it was about Adachi, but he seemed to have the magic coffee touch. After pouring Dojima a cup and shoving it over in his direction, Adachi shot another quick, furtive glance at Minako, and then made for the door.

"Is that it?" he asked, already halfway out of the room. "Cause I'm out of here. I, uh…I have…uh…things to do."

He was gone before Dojima even had a chance to respond. Minako watched the door slam closed behind him, and for a moment both she and Dojima stood there in vaguely contemplative silence. Dojima wondered what she was thinking.

"So, you've met Adachi before," he said eventually, when it looked like Minako wasn't going to speak.

She nodded "Yes. We ran into each other at the pub a few weeks ago. I…well, honestly, I don't think he likes me very much." Again, inexplicably, she smiled.

_Oh yeah? _Dojima frowned to himself. _I don't know if you're reading that right, kid. _Out loud, he asked, "do you know who he is?"

"Yes." Again, Minako nodded. "I…saw it in the newspaper."

"And," insisted Dojima, "does that worry you? I mean, how does it make you feel, having a murderer walking around the streets? Does it scare you much?"

"He was never convicted of murder," murmured Minako.

"Yeah," agreed Dojima. "I know. But, still…"

"But, no," she went on quickly, "it doesn't scare me. I don't scare easily, Dojima-san. Actually, I feel sorry for him."

That took Dojima by surprise. "Yeah? You know, I don't think he'd appreciate that."

"No, I don't think so either," agreed Minako, laughing a little under her breath. "But…he must be so lonely, and frightened, and confused. The world can be a very awful place, sometimes. It sounds like he must be a very troubled man, and he's been stuck in his own head for a very long time. I think it must be very hard to be Adachi-san right now, even if he wouldn't like hearing me say so."

"Uh…yeah. Yeah, I think so, too." Impressed, Dojima took another good, long look at Minako. For the first time, he noticed something strange in her eyes that he hadn't seen there before. She looked like she couldn't be any older than eighteen, but she had the eyes of a much older and wiser woman. They were deep, dark, and damaged eyes, and Dojima found that he couldn't meet them for very long. Averting his gaze at last, he cleared his throat.

"Why," he asked, genuinely curious, "do you want to work for the police department, Arisato?"

Minako had to think about that for a moment. "I…don't know if I do," she admitted eventually. "I haven't really had the chance in a very long time to think about what I want to do when I grow up. When I was a girl in high school, I thought maybe I'd like to be a lawyer, because I wanted a chance to fight for the people who no one else understood. That's what criminal lawyers do, really. They listen to the stories of the people who everyone else has already given up on. It's a different kind of justice, and I think I believe in a different kind of justice. I believe in the kind of justice that serves everyone equally…not just the good guys. Does that make sense?"

Uh," muttered Dojima, uncertain what to say. It did make a sort of sense, but there was something also vaguely oxymoronic about the idea of "justice for the bad guys."

"But," Minako went on, "I can't be a lawyer, can I? I never even finished high school. I still want to be a part of the right kind of justice, though, and I think that's why I want to be work for the police department. It's the closest I can get in this world to serving a cause that I care about."

She smiled, but Dojima didn't.

"What do you mean," he asked, "in 'this world?'"

She waved that away with one hand." Oh, um, figure of speech. You know, because in the next life, we don't have to worry about that kind of thing. At least, that's what they say."

Again, there was something uncannily deep about the way she was looking at him. Dojima cleared his throat.

"Can you start tomorrow?" he heard himself ask. "It's important that you get in here as soon as possible. Someone'll need to go over the computer systems with you, and I'll need you on the phones as soon as you're done training on the procedure. You better plan to be here at seven AM. I'll walk you through some stuff before the day gets started."

Minako beamed all over her face, and it was like the sun had suddenly come out ina very abrupt and alarming way. "Thank you, sir! I'll absolutely be here. I'm very excited about this opportunity. Leave it to me!"

She nodded, bowed, and bounced out of the office with a spring in her step that reminded Dojima just how young she probably was. The spell was broken, and she was a giddy teenager again, devoid of any of the mysterious wisdom that Dojima had been sure he'd seen in her only moments before.

He stood there for a few minutes after she'd gone, chewing on his lip and wondering what exactly he'd just agreed to.

The strangest part was, he didn't feel as badly about the split-second decision as he knew he probably should have. As a matter of fact, he'd almost liked her, which was a strange and unfamiliar enough experience in itself.

**Fin. **


	12. The Luckiest

**Author's Note: **So, this actually a freewrite that I did this morning in the office. We're due for an Aigis story, a Nanako story, and a few stories about the other characters before we get back to the MinakoxAdachi storyline, but this one just kind of wanted to be written, so I wrote it. I beg your patience. :)

* * *

**Eighth Story: The Luckiest**

**May 5****th****, 2017**

Adachi fell asleep in the middle of the afternoon after spending an hour trying and failing to give a shit about the characters in the paperback he'd picked up from the bookstore that morning. By the time he woke up again, it was already after eight o'clock at night, and his cell phone screen told him that he had missed a text.

There was, of course, only one person who ever texted him, so he knew who the caller would be before he'd even hit the "read" button.

The text read;

_Be at the station at five o'clock today. – Dojima_

Adachi glanced at the clock. Five o'clock had been over hours ago. Cursing to himself under his breath, he jumped out of bed, managed to find some shoes and a pair of pants, and made a mad dash for the door.

By the time he finally arrived at the police station, it was already almost eight thirty. All of the lights in the building seemed to be off, but when Adachi hesitantly pushed at the front doors, they opened. He strode in and looked around for Dojima, but the place was pretty much deserted. Dojima wasn't at his desk, and neither was anyone else.

At least, that's what Adachi thought at first until he heard the insistent tap-tap-tap of a keyboard coming from somewhere in the far left corner of the room.

"Um…Dojima-san?" He wandered over towards the tapping sound. "Is that you? Look, uh, about the text message…I mean, that's not a very reliable way to get in touch with somebody, is it? And isn't this kind of late notice? I mean, how am I supposed to know when you're gonna want me if we don't have any kind of a schedule? It's pretty unrealistic to expect-!"

He stopped, because as he came around the corner, he saw that the person at the desk wasn't Dojima. Instead it was that creepy new girl, Minako, all dressed up in an attractive little skirt suit number that somehow managed to say "professional" and "smoking-hot high-school tail" at the same time.

"Uh," he mumbled. "S-sorry."

She smiled at him. "Oh, no, don't worry. Dojima-san said he thought you'd come. He told me that if I saw you, I should tell you that'll he'll expect you tomorrow morning at eight AM. He says he'll talk to you then."

Adachi winced. "Oh, uh, he said that, huh? So, when you say 'talk,' you mean…?"

Minako nodded. "Yes, I think it's going to be _that_ kind of a talk. You were supposed to be here more than three hours ago, you know."

"Oh, come on!" Adachi sighed. "This isn't fair…how the hell was I supposed to know? What, am I not allowed to sleep or put the phone down for five minutes?"

Minako shrugged. "Seems that way. I don't think you should complain. You've got a lot more freedom than most people would say you deserve."

"Yeah…yeah, I hear that one a lot." He rolled his eyes. "Dojima-san's always telling me how goddamn lucky I am. Reminds me of back when I used to work in this dump. He was always going on and on about the 'privilege' of working for the Inaba police department, and the 'honor' of serving the cause of fucking justice. He'd lecture me till we were both blue in the face and then shout at me about showing up on time, keeping my nose clean and not leaving his coffee lying around for it to get cold. Jeez. What the hell kind of freedom is that?" Shaking his head, he sighed, and added, "It's like I said before. Nothing's changed."

Minako gave him a wistful little smile. "That must be nice for you."

"Wha…?" Adachi stared. "Hey, are you listening? I just said that-!"

"I don't remember what it's like to have people treat me 'just like before,'" she went on, ignoring him. "I'm not even sure I remember what 'before' felt like in the first place. It must be nice to have something pretty normal to go back to, as though nothing's changed."

Not for the first time, Adachi thought about asking her what the hell she was talking about. Every now and then she'd suddenly say all this weird stuff about "not being normal anymore," or "wishing she could get it all back." Whenever he opened his mouth to ask, though, he ended up thinking better of it. There was this weird sort of faraway look in her eyes whenever she talked about that stuff that made him both nervous and sort of sad at the same time, and after all, it wasn't like he really cared that much about her story anyway, did he? Kids her age got angsty all the time about all sorts of annoying stuff that never seemed to matter, and he didn't really want to waste time listening to a sob story about some guy who'd broken up with her back in her hometown, or…or whatever.

"And besides," Minako went on, "doesn't that tell you something?"

"Huh?" Adachi blinked. "Doesn't what tell me something?"

"You say Dojima-san still treats you exactly the way he used to." Minako shrugged. "You mean, he treats you the very same way that he did before he found out that you were actually a serial killer."

Adachi winced. "Uh…hey, look, about that. Can we maybe not use the word-?"

"So what you're saying is," insisted Minako, "that he doesn't care that you're a criminal. I mean…the way it see it, if nothing's changed from before, then it sounds to me like he's forgiven you. Don't you think so?"

That genuinely took Adachi aback for a moment.

_Wait, _he thought, _hang on. What the hell's that supposed to mean? He's 'forgiven' me? Funny way of showing forgiveness. I mean, he shouts at me all the time, orders me around, treats me like a hybrid guina pig/gopher/slave, and watches me like a hawk to make sure I don't 'disgrace the town of Inaba,' or whatever. I don't know how the fuck you can call something like that 'forgiveness.' More like indentured servitude._

Minako was still smiling, apparently amused by the confusion on his face. He scowled at her.

_And who the hell says I want forgiveness from that guy anyway? If it hadn't been for him, then…well if it hadn't been for him, then maybe this town wouldn't have been so bad to begin with, and maybe…_

He stopped, and swallowed.

_And if it hadn't been for him, _said a treacherous little point of light in the back of Adachi's mind, _then I probably would have spent the last five years all alone, sitting on the floor in a roach-ridden cell without fuck-all to do or anyone to talk to. And now…now he's 'forgiven' me, huh? Is that what that is? _

"Um," he mumbled aloud.

"So you see," said Minako quietly, "you really are very lucky."

Having delivered that final judgment, she turned around in her chair and returned to her typing, leaving Adachi staring bemusedly at the back of her head.

After several long moments, she spoke up again without turning around.

"It's late," she said, "and I haven't eaten yet. I'm going to try ordering takout from Aiya. Do you think they deliver this late?"

Adachi nodded. "Uh…yeah. They used to, anyway."

"Oh, good." Minako looked pleased. "Well, in that case, do you want some? Some takeout, I mean. Fried rice is my favorite. Is it okay if we get that?"

She continued talking and clicking away at her keyboard, pulling up the "Aiya's Chinese" takeaway website, while Adachi rubbed his temples and let the sound of her incessant voice relax him just that little bit in the way that it inexplicably always did.

She was definitely, he reflected, the most freakish and confusing person he'd ever met.

**Fin. **


End file.
